Wagoneer81 Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 (edited) A couple of friends and I were drinking coffee, listening to music and tellin' lies one afternoon when "East Bound and Down" came up on the playlist. I mentioned that I'd like to build a model of "That Truck". One friend, who's a fellow truck driver, his eyes lit up and after a short conversation about the truck and the logistics involved in building said truck and trailer, hands me a properly sized wad of cash and says, "Build me Snowmans rig." So, without further adeiu, here's where we are so far... The tractor is the venerable old Revell W900 Aerodyne that's had it sleeper cut off, the back of the cab filled and the box from the Revell Pete 359 kit transplanted onto it. Power for this model will be an 8v71 Detroit from the parts box since at least one of the trucks used in the movie was powered by a Detroit. The truck decals are from Model Truckin'. Thanks, Jerry!!! The trailer decals, I got a few years ago in a trade and put them aside for just this project... I started modifying a Great Dane Dry goods trailer to represent the reefer pulled in the movie and will post pics in this thread when I have something to show... This won't be an exact replica but I'll get it as close as I can with what I have to work with... Stay tuned, more to come... Edited July 5, 2010 by Wagoneer81 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highway Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 Believe me, I will stay tuned!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott S Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 Nice!! i will be watching this build also... looking fwd to seeing it. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wagoneer81 Posted July 5, 2010 Author Share Posted July 5, 2010 WHOOOWEEE!!! Ok, word of warning here... I just got back from the parts store where I picked up paint, primer, Bondo putty and brakefluid. The engine is taking a bath as we speak and I opened the putty and started working on the trailer sides. (I'm cheating... I'm smoothing them to make decal placement easier. See, told you it wouldn't be an exact replica... ) For putty I use the Bondo scratch putty in the tube and have used said putty for the past few years. In the past, it was a dark red putty with little odor. The new stuff (in the same type of tube, BTW) is off-white, thinner and finer grained and STINKS TO HIGH HEAVEN!!!... I'm working on this project on my kitchen table and after I got the sides puttied, had to open the kitchen door for ventilation and place the trailer sides in the paint booth with the fan on... I've never had to do that with this putty before, evidently Bondo has changed the formula of its scratch putty... My house smells like a body shop!!! If I were still married, my wife would be cursing and kicking me right now! More updates as they become available... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowboysevens Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 cant wait to see this one done, thats from my favorite movie of all time. please keep us posted as you go dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott S Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 LOL. kitchen table?? i was gonna say theres no way your married... that stuff is nasty, i have ventalation in my shop in the basement and the wife still gripes about it.. waiting to see the progress. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highway Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 The new stuff (in the same type of tube, BTW) is off-white, thinner and finer grained and STINKS TO HIGH HEAVEN!!!... Oh, but the wonderful feeling you get from the fumes!!!! I made the same mistake with regular Bondo over the winter. Three feet of snow on the ground, temps barely in the teens, and every window in the house OPEN!! By the way, I wonder when they changed the putty? I just recently bought, maybe 2 or 3 months ago, a one pound tube in a red box of the Bondo Spot and Glaze putty, and it was still the low odor dark reddish brown putty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wagoneer81 Posted July 6, 2010 Author Share Posted July 6, 2010 Update on the Bondo... Evidently, I am an idiot. There is another Bondo spot putty on the market that is packaged in a similar container as the red, single component spot putty. The difference is that the "other" putty is a 2-component putty and has a small tube of hardner included in the package. In my haste, I did not see the smaller tube... Sooo... After having scraped the uncured, still soft white putty off of BOTH trailer sides AND the back of the sleeper I am on my way to smooth, pinkish in color, properly cured trailer sides. Let this be a lesson (especially to me); If one is on pain medicine (ruptured disk, lower back) one needs to pay closer attention to what one is doing... We now return you to your regularly scheduled madness... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clay Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 (edited) Being a lover of the series of movies. I believe there were five total. May be wrong. But I will be watching this. Correction, there were 3 movies and 4 T.V. movies. More to add, searching the internet I found this, so I hope it helps. "As far as paint codes for the truck---Black Coffee is main color. NOT true Black! It's really a true dark Brown. 2 blocks of Gold wrap around the sleeper and goes to the front of the truck. Super thin Gold pinstripes accent the front fenders. The Black Coffee paint is also used for---air intake/cleaners, front center hubs, and on rear hubs, gas tank straps, door steps, and chassis. Interior was Black Splendor with light Beige roof" Edited July 6, 2010 by Clay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim B Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 Looking pretty good so far. Are you going to swap out the 8-bag suspension for a tanden torsion bar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wagoneer81 Posted July 6, 2010 Author Share Posted July 6, 2010 (edited) Looking pretty good so far. Are you going to swap out the 8-bag suspension for a tanden torsion bar? That would be nice but would put us over budget. Like I said, It won't be an exact replica. Once the truck is under the trailer and in its display case, the suspension won't be that noticable. I discussed this with the guy I'm building it for and he agrees. (I will however, make that correction on the one I build for myself. ) Clay, I was unaware that the color was as you say... However much research a person does, something always gets overlooked, doesn't it? As for the interiior, every interior shot I've seen, the leather/vinyl was a dark brown with the beige roof. I'm not sure if that's what KW considered "Black Splendor"? I do appreciate your bringing this up but I don't think I can find "Black Coffee" in rattlecan which is what I'm limited to right now... I shop around and see what I can find. Thanks for the input, guys! Edited July 7, 2010 by Wagoneer81 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wagoneer81 Posted July 7, 2010 Author Share Posted July 7, 2010 Small update, body parts fresh from the paint booth! I started painting the sleeper too but found a couple of spots that looked really bad and decided it needed more work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim B Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 Still looks wet. Is that black? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scalper Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 Nice shine on that paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowboysevens Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 lookin good so far, that paint has got some shine to it! dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wagoneer81 Posted July 7, 2010 Author Share Posted July 7, 2010 (edited) Shining like a new penny, isn't it? The paint is Duplicolor Basic Black (Couldn't find Black Coffee) acrylic enamel and that paint job was less than an hour old when I took the picture. The hood looks a little like charcoal gray in the picture but trust me, it's black. My camera has a tendency to color-shift a little. I've been painting with rattle cans since I was a kid... I'm really pleased with how this turned out. Dennis, Thanks for posting a little inspiration there in your avatar! Edited July 8, 2010 by Wagoneer81 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark R Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Nice paint ! Keep it going, i'm watching intently Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kostas Parchas Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 Nice paint ! Keep it going, i'm watching intently Me too!!! Kostas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wagoneer81 Posted July 16, 2010 Author Share Posted July 16, 2010 Small update: As happens so often, Life rears it's ugly head once again. I am still making slow progress on this build but will be moving to a new location over the next few weeks and have been busy preparing for that. I will be finishing this at the new place. The trailer is beginning to take shape, the sleeper is ready for paint and then decaling can begin. On top of having to move, my Grandmother, who is 92, is in her final days, I'm expecting that phone call anytime... and a longtime friend who has been as close as a brother to me for many years is in ICU in Indianapolis and we've been told to "prepare for the worst" as he may not pull through. Sooo.... can you say,"Back Burner"? Hopefully some good news soon... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highway Posted July 16, 2010 Share Posted July 16, 2010 (edited) Sorry to hear about your Grandmother and also your friend, Chris. My thoughts and prayers will be with them and you and your family. Edited July 16, 2010 by highway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wagoneer81 Posted July 19, 2010 Author Share Posted July 19, 2010 Ok, for the sake of my sanity, I've done a little more on this. I mentioned earlier that I was smoothing the sides of the trailer to make the decal placement easier... I'm not sure what would have been more difficult, decaling over the ribs with those HUGE mural decals or smoothing the trailer... Anyhow... Trailer box assembled and drying... Cab and sleeper painted and mocked up with trailer... I scratchbuilt the reefer unit. It's a fairly good copy of the one on the actual trailer... After the paint cured a few days, a little orange peel became noticable... I may wet sand and apply a few more coats before decaling. I want this to be my best paintjob. The next update will be posted from my new home, hopefully a week or two from now. I am beginning the process of moving some things out to my sisters (four miles from here) and the rest goes in storage. I have a corner of her two car garage and part of the workbench reserved for my machine tools and spray booth and a new desk for building in my new bedroom so this project and others will continue. More soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kostas Parchas Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 Chris, Your rig looks very nice at this point and I like very much how the paint looks! I wish to you to be patient while moving to the new place. I know very well this posedure already done 4 times in the past LOL!!! I also wish the new truck room to make you feel more isnpired!!! Talking about moovie trucks I thing that your next project should be the Goblin truck from MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE. Here comes another load of toyz.... Kostas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wagoneer81 Posted July 19, 2010 Author Share Posted July 19, 2010 (edited) Chris, Your rig looks very nice at this point and I like very much how the paint looks! I wish to you to be patient while moving to the new place. I know very well this posedure already done 4 times in the past LOL!!! I also wish the new truck room to make you feel more isnpired!!! Talking about moovie trucks I thing that your next project should be the Goblin truck from MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE. Here comes another load of toyz.... Kostas. Thank you for the compliment, Kostas. I will be taking my time on this move. It's only four miles away (roughly 6.5Km) and I don't have to be out of here completely until the end of August. I can pack the fragile stuff lightly in boxes and make several trips so that things aren't stacked on top of one another and getting squashed and broken. We're moving me and the items I can take with me (i.e. model supplies, clothes, bed, dresser, etc...) tommorrow. Then I'll have a month to get the rest of my things into a storage unit and get the place ready to turn back over. I think my next project after this truck is going to be a series of vintage front-engined dragsters. I have the parts to build six or seven, Revell and AMT Parts Pack frames, bodies, engines and such... I'll be needing a bit of a break from the big rigs, although the goblin truck is an idea for a future build. Pretty much the same type of conversion I've done with this one. The face would be the real challenge. Edited July 19, 2010 by Wagoneer81 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wagoneer81 Posted December 4, 2010 Author Share Posted December 4, 2010 I'm Baaaack!!!... Finally! Ok, I moved back at the end of July, got settled in to my new digs fairly quickly and got a modeling desk and my spraybooth set back up... I've worked on a number of projects and finished a few more, mainly a '67 dodge L-700 stakebed and a '37 Ford P.U. and did get Snowmans rig decaled. I finally got internet service out here, just this week... I was mildly shocked and pleased tonight when I saw the American LaFrance car hauler as I started a similar build back in September but have been out of touch since July. (I guess great minds do think alike! ) I'm converting an ALF Pumper into a single drive tractor for the AMT Haulaway Car Trailer... As soon as I can REPLACE my missing digital camera, I'll post pictures. Part of December will be taken up building a Minicraft 1/350 RMS Titanic for a friend but I should be back on this project around the first of the year. Update on my 15 July, 2010 post; The sad news is that we lost Grandma the first week in August...It was expected but still difficult. The good news, however, is that my good friend who was in ICU when I went MIA from this site, left the nursing home two weeks ago and is doing great! So, I'll post more when I get it... It's good to be back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowboysevens Posted December 4, 2010 Share Posted December 4, 2010 glad to have ya back, sorry about the loss of grandma. dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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